There will be no Brocante Fair in Glastonbury this year. The event planned for July 23 this year had been cancelled after Mendip District Council rejected the Market Rights License.

A post on the Brocante Fair Facebook page, under a picture with the text Cancelled by Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce, said: "Mendip District Council are not able to grant us a Market Rights License for the Glastonbury Brocante fair this year. Consequently, we are forced to cancel.

"We had a feeling this was coming and we are disappointed with this decision."

One of the stalls last year

The Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce, made up of over 60 local traders, objected to the place and date of the suggested event.

Leader of the chamber, Paul Manning, said: “It is a great event, just unfortunately they picked the wrong weekend.

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“The proposed weekend is one of the busiest weekends in the town. It is the chamber’s view that the height of summer season is not the weekend to be closing the High Street of a tourist town. The organiser has been told this on several occasions”

How the cancelling of the Brocante came about

“The fair was due to be during low season to extend the tourist season and bring people to the town when there isn’t as much footfall,” Mr Manning said. “Instead, they applied to host it on an already busy weekend.”

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During a consultation, it was suggested to move the event to St. John’s Car Park, but was turned down by Mendip District Council as the car park would be needed for the people visiting the fair.

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The other option was to hold it at the top of the High Street rather than near Market Cross. Traders at the bottom of the high street objected to the fair as it draws people towards the stalls but away from high street shops.

This is where opinions differ.

Ian Pirrie says many small businesses rely on the fair for sales.

He said: “I know B&Bs which have lost trade. People had booked for the Brocante weekend and now cancelled.”

The organiser predicted over 7,000 visitors for the fair.

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Paul Manning, as well as traders at the bottom of high street, Market Place and Magdalene Street say they rely on approximately 13 weeks – mainly weekends – in summer for their income. The high season during summer is when their businesses bring in money they need to be able to remain open the rest of the year and shops and cafes are already very busy on those weekends.

A spokesman for Mendip District Council said: "Following careful consideration, the council turned down the license application after taking into account a representation from the local Chambers of Commerce, who were strongly opposed to the market as they believed it would be detrimental to the commercial interests of High Street traders.

"In addition, both Mendip District Council and Somerset County Council opposed the application for a road closure.”

Mr Pirrie now wants to take his Brocante Fair somewhere else to “more open minded and forward thinking communities”.

Mr Manning said: “It’s a shame. If it had worked out, I would have liked to see it happening a few times throughout the year and it could have helped businesses on weekends when the town is quiet.”

What do you think of the situation? Do you have a business which struggles when there are market stalls or do you benefit from the additional tourists? Let us know in the comments below or email claire.herbaux@localworld.co.uk